How much does it cost to fly with your dog?

1) What is the best time of day to fly with your dog?
2) What size kennels are OK to fly with your dog?
3) What is the weight limit (maximum weight) to fly with your dog?
4) How much does it cost to fly with your dog?
5) Do I need a health certificate to fly with my dog?

kajochen wrote:

Hi All,I understand some of you are thinking about flying with your dog(s) to the National Specialty this year (2008). Here are some things to consider if you are thinking of flying.1) Most important - try to book a non-stop flight very early in the day. Less chance of a delay and less chance of the dog being "mis-placed" when a transfer occurs. This also helps with the temperature regulation. Pets are not accepted under any circumstances if it is 85F or above at either the origin or destination. Also some carriers have a pets as checked baggage embargo through Sept. 15th. You need to check your carrier's policy

2) Try to keep your kennel size a "400" or smaller. Certain aircraft cannot fit a "500" or larger sized kennel. It simply does not fit through the cargo door. Examples of aircraft that cannot take a "500" or larger kennel is the MD-80 series, B717 and certain older B737's. Also prop and regional jet equipment generally cannot take the larger kennels.

3) Check the weight of the dog and the kennel combined. Most carriers will not accept a combined weight of more than 100lbs. I know Northwest is an exception. They will take pets up to 150lbs combined weight, although they will charge you an outrageous amount of money (see next item)

4) Check the cost. Most airlines raised their pet fees last week and they are now EXPENSIVE. AA charges a flat $150.00 EACH WAY and Delta charges $200.00 EACH WAY for a pet going as checked baggage. Northwest tops out at a whopping $359.00 each way for a super-sized pet (they charge on a graduated scale according to kennel size and weight).

5) Check the health certificate and rabies shot requirements. Believe it or not, if the dog is traveling domestically as checked baggage, airlines generally do not require a health certificate, but the state you are traveling to/from might.

This will get you started. If anyone is having trouble getting information about traveling on an airplane with their dog PM me and I will get the info for you. I will post again with the info you need if you have decided this is the way to travel. It really is not hard and I have done it numerous times with both my cats and dogs and never had a problem. Happy flying.

1) What is the best time of day to fly with your dog?2) What size kennels are OK to fly with your dog?3) What is the weight limit (maximum weight) to fly with your dog?4) How much does it cost to fly with your dog?5) Do I need a health certificate to fly with my dog?

1) I fly in Europe regulary with my dogs and I have no specific time of day to fly with the dog, although it is better if you can arrive when it is not too hot. In Europe we can just pick the dog up without any regulations. 2) In Europe we have to have an approved box and you must be able to lock it to ensure the dog cannot escape. 3) Flying with Air-Berlin there weight limit is 180 lbs. 4) Flying within Europe costs $ 45 each way, flying to the states costs $ 100 each way, these prices are for Air-Berlin within Europe or LTU / Delta to the states. 5) In Europe all we have to have is animal passport no health checks are necessary.

Thanks!

What is an animal passport?

In Europe we have a passport for the dogs which has all the necessary information in it, e.g. last inoculations, chip no, breed of dog. etc.

I like that!

It might be even easier if they would give border people access to that info via the chip number!

People too!

Ron wrote:

People too!

Sure thing, Big Brother.

Well, hey. If it's OK for your dog to be required to have a chip and a passport... and people are required to carry passports (or a "National ID card"), is it that much of a stretch?

Big brother or not - it is certainly cheaper to fly the dogs in Europe than when I last checked here.

The prices I quoted are only for the airline Air-Berlin, the other airlines take mostly a much higher rate for the transportation of animals.

Air-Berlin carry within Europe even to the states and Canada as far as I know, although if you fly to the UK you have to fly KLM or BA using a transport company, the british are a little odd sometimes and I am saying that as a Brit.

This dog passport thing is cool! Can an American dog get an EU passport as well, or do you have to be an European dog? Heck, I'd like to have an EU passport as well.

United Airlines has their pet policy outlined on their website: www.united.com. I recently flew with my 11 lb dog and it cost 125 dollars each direction to have the dog fly with me under the seat in front of me. I beleive their cost is 250 each way to fly as cargo. Alhtough they say they require the dog to be current on vaccines and have proof I was never asked to present the health certificate I obtained from my veterinarian. This I thought was odd and unsafe. Their maximum dimensions for carry on kennels I find odd as well as many carry on kennels do not match their maximum dimensions, especially the soft sided ones which I have found 0 that match their maximum kennel dimensions for.

we will be travelling from connecticut to minnesota the end of july for 2 weeks and flying back to connecticut from minnesota. can you recommend an airline or cargo plane?

Guest wrote:

we will be travelling from connecticut to minnesota the end of july for 2 weeks and flying back to connecticut from minnesota. can you recommend an airline or cargo plane?

But it's already mid August??

I can't help with the airlines part, but we are in MN...welcome!

I've written an e-book called How to Fly Your Dog to Europe. It covers absolutely everything you need to know about flying a dog to Europe including 2013 dog-import regulations for every country in Europe, required vaccinations, health certificates, pet programs for transatlantic airlines, flight safety, preparing your dog, and planning timelines.

I'm flying to Abilene, Kanas from Portland Oregon to pick up a very small puppy. I'm not comfortable in putting her in the cargo and would like to find out what it would cost me to just fly and pick her up turn around and fly back compared to the price of $350. to fly her here on her own.If anybody knows please reply.Thanks roseyred54

I wanted to fly to get our puppy, and he grew too large to be able to take him as carry on. Even though he was just 8 weeks old, he was either too tall or too heavy. Each airline has a different requirement. You'd do best to search the airlines websites and call their information phone lines and get their requirements.

In the end, we drove 18 hours to get our puppy, and then 18 hours back with him. For some airlines he was too tall (the carrier has to be able to fit UNDER the seat in front of you) and for others, he was too heavy. I even offered to buy a seat to put his carrier in next to me, in business class. That's how much I did not want to drive across country with a new puppy. But none of the airlines I spoke with would let me.

I've seen photos online of other people that did it- they even had their puppy out and being cuddled by other passengers. But I couldn't get an airline to sell me a ticket, and I didn't want to get there and be refused to be allowed on the plane with my pup.